The Kelton Apartments were designed and built for Richard Neutra’s in-laws, who lived in the primary unit and rented out the two others. Completed in 1941, the property is one of four apartment buildings designed by Neutra in Westwood and breaks from his pure interpretations of International Style design. Using a woodsier pallet, the Kelton Apartments interacts with the natural environment in ways previous designs did not.

With broad bands of windows alternating with deep bands of white painted stucco, the facades retain character-defining features of the International Style. However, Kelton diverges from the style because it does not stand out as a white rectangular volume. Instead, the residence uses clever massing to create low-slung volumes that blend with the landscape and presents itself as a single-family residence from the street. At Kelton, the rooflines extend farther beyond the building’s walls, sheltering the multiple terraces and encouraging indoor-outdoor living.

The Kelton Apartments are an early example of what Neutra would later call biorealism. His design theory argued that architecture must connect to nature and embrace a range of sciences, including evolutionary biology, environmental psychology, Gestalt aesthetics, and anthropology, to understand human needs better. Through the lens of biorealism architecture would better respond to and meet those needs. In his books, beginning with Survival Through Design (1954), the architect presents strategies for re-integrating humans and nature through architecture. In many ways, the Kelton Apartments are a pioneering Neutra design that has successfully achieved the architect's goals for more than eight decades.